Rensselaer Named One of Six National Nanotechnology Centers

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Rensselaer Named One of Six National Nanotechnology Centers

NSF to Provide $10 Million in Funding

Troy, N.Y. — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.,
was selected by the National Science Foundation to receive $10
million to develop one of six Nanoscale Science and Engineering
Centers (NSEC), the NSF announced today.

“We are elated to be one of the six universities to be named
an NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center,” said Shirley
Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer. “This Center will
significantly advance nanotechnology research, will serve the
National Nanotechnology Initiative, and will contribute to the
economic growth of the Capital Region. To be selected with
Cornell and Columbia as leaders in this vital effort
underscores the strength of New York universities in
nanotechnology research.”

Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno said, “With this
designation, Rensselaer will be at the forefront of
nanotechnology research and development. The state has joined
the federal government and private businesses in making a major
financial commitment so Rensselaer has the best lab facilities
and the best researchers. The next generation of major
scientific breakthroughs and the economic development that will
result from them, will take place right here.” The choice of
Rensselaer followed intense competition. Twenty-four
first-round finalists were selected from close to 100
applications. That number was pared down to 11 before the
government chose the final six winners.

In addition to Rensselaer, two other New York state
universities, Cornell and Columbia, received an NSF NSEC. The
other recipients are Northwestern, Harvard, and Rice
universities.

Called the Center for Directed Assembly of Nanostructures, the
NSEC at Rensselaer, will be headed by Richard W. Siegel, Robert
W. Hunt Professor of Materials Science and Engineering.

The Center will address fundamental scientific issues
underlying the design and synthesis of new materials and
structures with dramatically different and improved properties.
Research in the NSF Center could lead to smart drug delivery
systems, bioengineered tissues, and novel nanoscale devices for
electronic, magnetic, and photonic applications, among other
applications.

The NSF Center involves a partnership between Rensselaer, the
University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign, and Los Alamos
National Laboratory. In addition to the NSF funding of $10
million over the next five years, Rensselaer and UIUC, New York
state, and industry will each contribute $500,000 a year for
the next five years, for a total of more than $17
million.

With major emphases on new materials and biotechnology, the
NSF Center for Directed Assembly of Nanostructures will be
incorporated as part of the overall research, education, and
outreach plans of the Rensselaer Nanotechnology Center, formed
this past April, also headed by Siegel.

The focus on directed assembly is what makes the NSEC at
Rensselaer unique. “Lots of people can now make nanoscale
building blocks. The question is how do you assemble them to
create new materials and novel devices that you can control and
manipulate,” said Siegel. Jonathan Dordick, Rensselaer’s Howard
P. Isermann Professor of Chemical Engineering, will play a
leading role in this effort. His primary focus will address
directed assembly in the biosciences.

“A lot of the biocomponent of the Nanotechnology Center is to
incorporate the uniqueness of nature into manmade materials,”
said Dordick. These materials would be the basis for devices
that could one day diagnose illness and play a central role in
drug discovery. For example, the use of selective enzymes and
other proteins in various nanomaterials would create a
biosystem that could be introduced into cells to work as an
antibody to manipulate or destroy contaminated proteins or
target molecules.

Another important component of the NSF Center will be to
develop educational partnerships with premier undergraduate
institutions, including Morehouse, Mount Holyoke, Smith,
Spelman, and Williams colleges. These partnerships will enable
Rensselaer to place special emphasis on educating groups of
students that have been long underrepresented in science and
engineering.

In addition, the NSF Center will work to excite and educate a
diverse cadre of young people in grades K-12. Linda Schadler,
associate professor of materials science and engineering at
Rensselaer, will lead the K-12 teaching component that will
include collaborations with the Junior Museum of Troy. Schadler
will take advantage of the museum’s multimedia theater and the
planetarium equipped with a new Digistar® projection system,
capable of projecting 3-D computer images, video, and
slides.

The NSF awarded the six NSECs as part of the federal
government’s $500 million National Nanotechnology Initiative,
which stemmed from a worldwide study, led by Siegel, of trends
in nanostructure science and technology from 1996 to
1998.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, founded in 1824, is the
nation’s oldest technological university. The Institute is a
leader in research and is especially well known for its success
in the transfer of technology from the laboratory to the
marketplace so that new discoveries and inventions benefit
human life, protect the environment, and strengthen economic
development.

Contact: Patricia Azriel
Phone: (518) 276-6531
E-mail: N/A

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About Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Founded in 1824, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is America’s first technological research university. Rensselaer encompasses five schools, 32 research centers, more than 145 academic programs, and a dynamic community made up of more than 7,900 students and more than 100,000 living alumni. Rensselaer faculty and alumni include more than 145 National Academy members, six members of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, six National Medal of Technology winners, five National Medal of Science winners, and a Nobel Prize winner in Physics. With nearly 200 years of experience advancing scientific and technological knowledge, Rensselaer remains focused on addressing global challenges with a spirit of ingenuity and collaboration.